ZX Spectrum Next – Detailed Specifications Revealed

Victor Trucco, one of the masterminds behind the Spectrum Next posted today on Next Facebook group a big update about the machine development, including detailed specifications, capabilities and more.

Below, the full announcement written by Victor:

“Big update to bring the many things that have changed on the Next since the original announcement. We’ve reviewed here all the features that are already implemented in the Issue 1 board. Note that we’re not talking about the future: The features listed below are working today, as you read this:

1) Speed can be changed anytime with F8 key (external keyboard) or by an OUT command. You can even use OUTs in your homebrew games, to accelerate some complex calculations and back again to original speed afterward.

2) RAM ICs can be soldered at empty ram spaces (U3 and U4) to get 1.5Mb. With an expansion board connected at J10 and J11 you can get up to 2.5MB. Anyway, we created a /RAMCS signal at the external bus in an unused pin. Similar to ZX81, you can disable all the internal ICs and get any amount of RAM with an external interface.

3) I believe everyone knows about standard, ULA enhanced and Timex Modes. All are supported with perfect timing, so all the demos that works on an original machine run exactly the same way on the Next. Radastan is a 128 x 96 with 16 colours per pixel from an enhanced palette. We don’t know about any new games using it yet, but there are some SDKs with the support, maybe we will see some software using it in the future. “Layer2” is a Next exclusive mode that support a “layer screen” 256 x 192 with 256 colours per pixel. This layer can be OVER the standard screen (using 100% magenta as transparency colour) or UNDER the standard, using any ZX Spectrum colour as transparency. Sprites are exclusive to the Next too and can be used over the other modes (except timex and radastan). A “sprite” is a 16×16 image that can be drawn anywhere on the screen, including the border area. Sprites can be moved incredibly fast over the screen because the job is done by hardware, not software.

4) RGB and VGA are switchable on the HD15 (VGA-like) connector. You can use a regular VGA monitor or even an HD15 to Scart cable. HDMI have full video and audio support without any type of conversion or hacks. The ZX ULA spits the pixel directly to the port combined with the sound from TurboSound Next and makes a beautiful video output with perfect timing. Note that the two video outputs can be used at the same time: You can plug an RGB or VGA monitor in the video port and a TV in HDMI simultaneously.

5) DivMMC is well know at this point and Miguel Guerreiro gave us full consent to include the upcoming exclusive “esxDOS for Next”! You can also use IDEDOS formatted cards with +3e ROMs.

6) The TurboSound Next is a brand new interface for the Next, with 3 x AYs and FM sound. All the legacy software (single AY music and regular TurboSound software) are fully supported by the new interface. You can even use your cool external speaker / amplifier with a stereo jack output.

7) All the major joysticks protocols are now supported by the Next: Kempston, Interface 2 and Cursor.

8) The PS/2 connector can be split with a PS/2 Y-cable and be used with a PS/2 keyboard and PS/2 mouse that emulate Kempston Mouse. Or two mice, who knows? The PS/2 keyboard and membrane keyboard can be used at same time.

9) MIC and EAR are combined into a single jack stereo and works like the good old days: You can use with legacy games that record your progress on tape or just for fun!

10) The original RS232 port is emulated over the Wi-Fi module, enabling data transfer over the web by simply connecting the Next to a wireless router. It’s also planned to feature a direct link to online repositories, such as World of Spectrum.

11) RTC (Real Time Clock) is fully supported on esxDOS version 0.8.6 and above.

12) Multiface (all versions) are supported. Exclusive on Next you can use divMMC and Multiface TOGETHER. You can load a game over divMMC, pause it, find a POKE and continue to play, no problem!

13) The original bus expansion is fully implemented, except for analog outputs (like Speccy 48 composite video). Also, the extra GPIO internal port maps all the unused pins from the FPGA. Do you need a second joystick port? Want to blink some leds? No problem, it´s just a cable attached to the port.

14) A Raspberry Pi among other things can be used as a USB hub to connect USB keyboards, mouse, and cool gamepads to the Next. You can even use it as a second monitor to debug your stuff or a featured game with two displays!

15) With anti-brick you can easily recover from a bad update. Just press the three tactile buttons together, and you are good to update your board again.

16) Extras cores are not the main focus of the Next, but the board is FPGA based, so you can upload anything you want. I have another project (Multicore) and right now supports 42 different cores. All of then can be easily run on the Next board, just changing the FPGA pinout (Multicore have similar specs with 512kb and HDMI).

We hope this helps update everyone on all the specs and, if any questions remain, just ask. A quick reminder that everything listed here is fully working features and all this stuff are kicking on Issue 1 board right now… Good times!”